Filtering by Tag: Mayan Abdominal Massage

The way your body works and moves when you are pregnant is quite different from its regular state. You now have added weight in the front of your body due to increasing breast size and belly size. This changes your center of gravity, how you stand, how you walk and how and which muscles you use. Massage therapy can help to address many of the issues which arise during pregnancy such as low back, sacral and hip pain and tension due to belly, digestive and breathing issues due to the crowding of organs in the abdominal cavity, and upper back issues due to increasing breast size. It is also beneficial to have the time to rest, relax, be cared for and connect with your baby. This time of relaxation without sleep is good preparation and practice of a skill which can be helpful during labor and delivery (and really for postpartum and our lives as mothers). Becoming more in tune with your body, as frequently happens through receiving massage, can also help you be more comfortable and healthy during pregnancy and birth. Massage therapy also provides nurturing an positive touch at a time when medical visits and procedures are sometimes stressful or uncomfortable.

Prenatal massage has many benefits for both mother and baby. It can reduce stress, tension and anxiety, relieve muscle and joint pain, reduce swelling, strengthen the immune system, and improve digestion. Studies from the Touch Research Institute (TRI) indicate that pregnancy massage provides more than just symptom relief for the mother. The study demonstrated that prenatal massage therapy can reduce anxiety, stress, sleep problems and back pain, and result in fewer complications during delivery and fewer postnatal complications for newborns.

In my practice I use Arvigo® Therapy in my prenatal sessions. This includes teaching of self-care massage for you to do at home starting at the appropriate time in pregnancy. Arvigo® work for pregnancy supports the physical changes experienced by women during pregnancy. As the baby and uterus grow, additional strain is put on the uterine and pelvic ligaments and pelvic floor muscles. With regular massage, the uterus stays well-positioned, receives good blood supply, and grows strong and resilient. Arvigo® Therapy normalizes pelvic alignment allowing the uterus to guide itself to optimal positioning in the pelvis. This positioning encourages good positioning of baby, and facilitates labor and delivery. Arvigo® practitioners have repeatedly found that their clients experience significantly shorter and easier labors. Midwifery-based practices that have integrated Arvigo® Therapy into their care have reported positive differences in birth outcomes as evidenced by more efficient contractions and shorter labors. Arvigo® Therapy is also helpful for improving digestion and breathing issues which can occur during pregnancy.

Prenatal massage can be a wonderful addition to your healthcare during pregnancy and beyond. Massage also has many benefits during the postpartum period. Receiving massage before having baby is a wonderful time for you to establish a self-care routine for yourself. Taking good care of yourself as a mom will greatly benefit your ability to care for your family and provide an awesome example for your children of how important self-care is.

If you have any questions about prenatal massage feel free to contact me and I would be happy to chat with you!

I am off for a week to learn some incredible new massage techniques to help with problems such as painful and irregular periods, PMS, fertility issues, headaches, bladder and yeast infections, constipation and digestive difficulties. These physical and emotional issues as well as many others can be improved or prevented with some simple, non-invasive massage techniques. This magnificent tool to help improve and maintain pelvic and abdominal health is the Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy.

I have already attended the self-care portion of the training and was amazed by how fascinating and enlightening it was. I met some wonderful, soulful and caring women and learned some very valuable information for myself, my family and my clients. How much healthier and happier would we be, as girls and women, if we had access to essential information such as this from an early age? (My “necessary, life changing and fabulous for all girls and women” list would now include Arvigo Mayan Abdominal self-care and Toni Weschler’s book Taking Charge of Your Fertility.) I would highly recommend this class for any woman interested in learning more about her body and how to simply and effectively care for herself throughout her life (and have a restorative weekend to herself). Self-Care Training includes anatomy and physiology of the abdominal and reproductive organs, addresses causes and symptoms of malpositioned organs and demonstrates self-care techniques. These techniques can be used for a few minutes each day to hasten and maintain relief of symptoms provided by the work of an Arvigo practitioner.

I am so grateful to have come across such amazing and transformative work. I am looking forward to learning more about it and to receiving it myself in the coming week (yippee!). I can’t wait to come back to my practice and share it with all of you. In the meantime, do you have anything to add to the necessary, life changing and fabulous for all girls and women list?

I recently read a very interesting book. It was Sastun: My Apprenticeship with a Maya Healer by Rosita Arvigo. It is the story of how Rosita learned the Mayan art of natural healing from Don Elijio Panti, a well-respected healer in the rainforest of Brazil.

Why did I end up reading this book? I am interested in The Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy® which is taught by Rosita and the Arvigo® Institute. I am taking a self-care class offered by them in a few weeks and I am very excited about it. Mayan abdominal massage can help with symptoms such as painful or irregular menstrual cycles and ovulation, bladder or yeast infections, peri menopause, menopausal symptoms, infertility, PMS/Depression with menstruation, and can enhance pregnancy and aid in labor and birthing. The techniques work to restore the body to its natural balance by correcting the position of organs that have shifted and restrict the flow of blood, lymph, nerve and chi energy.

I read the book hoping to find out more about The Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy®. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the actual story of Rosita’s time with Don Elijiio. I think you might find it interesting too.